170 Years Ago
by Bamb00
Summary: There weren't always seven homunculi. In fact, when Envy was born there were only four, and with almost two centuries until the Promised Day, sometimes meddling humans were a welcome distraction. (Brotherhood/Manga)
1. Chapter 1

The homunculi were superior to humans in every way. They could overpower them at any time, weren't subject to the same flaws (namely emotions, sickness, and, well, just about anything that made a human a _human_ ), and, most importantly of all, they could see the bigger picture. They could and would do what needed to be done, and everything that needed to be done was all a part of helping Father become the perfect being; nothing was more important than that. This was what Envy knew, knew for certain because Father himself had told him, and Father knew everything; was always right.

Envy also knew that he was the youngest homunculus, something of an experiment; like Pride and Lust and Greed, but also not. He had no real, stable form…or rather, he did, but Greed had made pretty clear to him early on that that particular form was far too hideous to ever actually be used. Instead, he had taken to imitating whatever human form he liked the look of, preferring to remain inconspicuous while above ground. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be human, ached to actually belong amongst them instead of merely acting as though he did. Once in a moment of sudden weakness he admitted this fantasy to Lust, and the look of scorn on her face was enough for him to decide it would be best never to bring it up again, although the ache never fully went away.

Of course, he _knew_ that he was superior to a human in every way, but knowing and truly believing were not quite the same thing, a fact that steadily had begun to become clearer to him. Greed was the only other one of them who didn't seem to scorn humans with all their might, but Greed was strong and brave and useful and everything Envy was not. Sometimes when Envy paused to think about this, the ache would re-emerge in his chest, burning him from the inside out.

The ache was to plague him throughout his life, though it wasn't until his first kill that he managed to put a name to it.

* * *

It was only a few months into his existence when he was assigned what Greed called his first "real job". It was simple enough: hunt down a particularly nosy human and discreetly kill him, something any of them could have done, but Father wanted Envy to start to really put his abilities to the test. His shifting was still mediocre at best; his eye for detail was still somewhat lacking, and he still struggled with controlling his weight, but it was good enough for Father, and it was good enough for him to successfully corner the human, albeit after a chase that went on for far longer than he would have liked.

The man was standing in the front room of his house, brandishing some crudely made weapon that Envy was certain would do little damage, and yet still clinging to it as though it was his lifeline. A woman, his wife, stood shaking in the back corner, arms held protectively around a small child who looked on wide eyed, perhaps too young to understand what was happening, or smart enough to know not to make a fuss.

"Stay back," the man cried, "don't you dare take one step closer to my family. Do what you want to me, I don't give a shit, but you leave my wife and daughter out of this, you hear?"

Envy couldn't help but pause; this wasn't at all what he had expected. He'd heard all about humans' tendency to pathetically beg for their own life to be spared, but this? This readiness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of others that this man was showing, the sheer selflessness of the act was almost more than Envy could comprehend. Sure, the homunculi cared about each other to a degree, Lust especially had taken him under her wing, but would any of them actively put themselves in a position this dangerous for each other? The answer to that was pretty immediately obvious to him. If Lust wouldn't, then almost certainly the others wouldn't either; it would be stupid and illogical and far too _human_.

Envy felt the ache again, and this time he knew what it was. Of course; what else could it be? That god-awful blend of longing, resentment, and deep painful sense of being hollow, incomplete. Father had told him what his name meant, but only now did he truly understand.

He looked at the man; still yelling, still brandishing that pathetic weapon, doing everything he could within his pitiful lack of power to protect those he loved, and decided then and there that he wanted to be nothing like these sad creatures. He never would be, anyway, would never have that type of companionship that humans seemed to acquire so easily, so why bother pining for it, when simply taking it away from them could be so much easier?

Focusing his stone's energy on his hand, he morphed it into a blade, and with one deft movement too fast for his target to react to, he slit the man's throat as he had seen Lust do many times before. The human fell, gurgling and wide eyed, to the ground, blood spurting out from his throat, some splashing onto Envy in the process.

Huh. He hadn't expected blood to be this warm.

Perhaps he would have felt something else; remorse or guilt, but as he watched the human fall still he heard the woman let out a wail of pure despair, and the ache, the _envy_ that had previously diminished somewhat with the slight satisfaction of the kill, returned tenfold in his chest. Turning it into the less painful emotions of anger and distain came easily, and before Envy knew what he was doing, the woman and child lay dead at his feet, and he was covered in blood, shaking and breathing hard, but the ache was gone, if only for a short time.

In later years he would come to find glee in the kill, in the banishing of that ache, but for now he could only feel numb as he stumbled back to the lair, blood still staining his hands.

* * *

"Look what the cat dragged in," crowed Greed from his perch on the pipes as Envy dazedly made his way into one of the main chambers, "was beginning to think we'd never see you again."

"Piss off Greed," Envy retorted, the words out of his mouth before he could stop them. Greed, somewhat taken aback, blinked, as much surprised at hearing Envy insult him as Envy was at hearing his own words. He was the youngest and by no means had the right to disrespect any of the others, but Lust, ever the smart (and reluctantly maternal) one, had already picked up on Envy's state and quickly intervened before the exchange could get out of hand.

"Knock it off, the two of you. Greed, you keep your mouth shut for once, and Envy…come with me, you're covered in blood for god's sake, what if someone had spotted you?"

"It's not my fault! Damn humans were bleeding everywhere, this was the most I could get off…" Envy trailed off at the look on his sister's face as she began to pull him away, "…what?"

" _Humans?_ As in more than one? As in you managed to fuck up what must have been the simplest task Father could have given you?"

"They were witnesses Lust! What else was I supposed to do?"

"How about not have any witnesses to begin with, you-" Lust paused abruptly as she looked at her youngest sibling as though really taking in his state for the first time. He looked an absolute mess; the hair of whatever human form he'd taken matted with blood, and his eyes slightly glazed. It was clear he was still in some form of shock, whether he realised it or not, and yelling at him would do nothing to help right now. "You know what, never mind," she sighed, exasperatedly shoving him towards the bathroom, ignoring his childish noises of protest, "just… get washed up before you report back to Father."

* * *

Envy designed a unique form for himself not long after that, something attractive but nothing like how any human would present themselves; he no longer felt the need to imitate those weak beings, he told himself, he was better than them, he was superior in every way. As he had stared at his dishevelled reflection in that rusty bathroom mirror, he had come to the conclusion that the only way to stave off the ache was to bury it far down, never to be acknowledged again, only letting it fuel his disdain for humans and their whole pathetic society.

And also to design a sweet new form that no human could ever hope to achieve. Greed said it was gaudy, but what did he know? The asshole was still wearing fur in 1740, for god's sake.

* * *

A/N:

This is my first attempt at writing anything remotely creative in quite a while so I apologise if it came off as rushed; hopefully I'll begin to improve and write some much longer chapters as I get more into the swing of this.

Speaking of future writing, I do have plans to turn this into a full-length story based around the early days of the homunculi, who I've always felt never got the screen time they deserved, so if you'd be interested in reading anything like that, be sure to review and let me know! Or just let me know what you thought of this chapter, any feedback is greatly appreciated, really.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

_Ruth Baker lay in agony as she waited silently for the man who had just murdered her husband to leave, clutching at her side as it continued to ooze blood, and praying that if she just lay still enough the man, no,_ monster _, would assume she was already dead, and refrain from finishing the job. It took everything she had not to get up and rush at him in a blind rush of anger and grief, but she knew that would do no good, so she held on and waited. Ruth always was good at waiting._

 _Her heart swelled with relief as she heard footsteps moving away from her and out of the house, but the sensation was short lived as the reality of the situation began to truly sink in, because_ oh God they were gone _. Thomas and Abigail; sweet,_ sweet _little Abigail, were truly gone. Struggling to her knees, she held her daughter's body close and shook with a grief so intense she couldn't even begin to express it with… what, tears? Screaming? How did you mourn the unthinkable?_

 _The only thing she knew was that someone was going to pay. What was Thomas's friends name? Ian, no… Isaac. That was it. She was going to find Isaac, tell him what she had seen, and make him get revenge, or by God she would do it herself, even if it cost her her life, no matter how long it took. She could wait. She always was good at that._

* * *

 **1 month later**

Envy kicked frustratedly at a pile of leaves as he trudged through the bustling streets of Central. Ever since Pride had found out that the wife of his first target had made it out alive with valuable information, he had begun to assign him only the worst of jobs. Some sort of prolonged punishment bullshit. How was he supposed to know she had faked death? All dead humans looked the same, and she had looked pretty fucking dead to him.

To be fair, there weren't all that many interesting jobs to go around at the moment. It had been a good few decades since the last bloodshed they had created back in '61, and with another few decades to go until the next planned one, there was little for them to do in the meantime but wait and remain hidden. Consequently, life had become pretty slow moving for the homunculi, and Envy, not knowing quite what to do with himself, was left bored out of his mind.

Greed and Lust at least seemed to be finding ways to occupy themselves; Greed often away from the lair, presumably hanging out with his human lackeys, (he claimed it was for information gathering, but Envy didn't buy into any of that; Greed had always had a pathetic need to associate with humans) and Lust being tasked with establishing as many connections as possible. Really Envy's abilities were better suited for that kind of job, but of course no one trusted him enough; he was still the baby of the group. Sometimes it seemed like they didn't trust him to do anything.

His last job, for instance, had involved, quite literally, cleaning up the guardian chimeras _shit_. He was a homunculus, goddammit! Giving him jobs that even many humans would only give slaves, who the hell did Pride think he was?

* * *

Stomping back into the lair, Envy shifted back into his preferred form and, grumbling under his breath, headed off to find Lust, his normal target for when he needed to rant, but instead found himself stopped by the very cause of his foul mood.

Pride was standing in one of the main chambers, where it seemed he had already assembled Greed and Lust.

"Envy? Come here, please. I have some information I'd like to brief you all on,"

"Psh, what now? Don't you have some human family to be sucking up to?" Envy muttered, but came into the room all the same, ignoring Lust as she shot him an exasperated look. Pride chose not to acknowledge Envy's comment, although a twitch of his shadows suggested he may be paying for the remark later on.

"I have gathered you here to inform you all that the alchemist Isaac Brown has made a reappearance, and it already appears as though he may soon start to become an issue for us once again," Pride began. At the mention of the human's name, Lust's expression became somewhat stony, while Greed immediately started to interrupt.

"Him again? I thought we'd gotten rid of Brown for good ages ago!"

"We had never 'gotten rid of him', Greed, as you of all people should know, we-" The eldest homunculus had started to speak, but didn't get far as he once again was interrupted; this time by Envy, who looked positively baffled, and somewhat miffed at being left out of the loop.

"Hold on, 'Isaac Brown'? Who the hell is this guy? Why haven't I heard of him?"

" _If_ you would just let me speak," Pride bit out, quickly silencing his siblings, "I would be able to tell you that Isaac Brown was an alchemist who came dangerously close to unveiling some of our plan a few years before you were born, Envy. We managed to mislead him and cover up our tracks successfully, not being able to kill him due to his high-profile status among the public, but now it seems as though he is back on our tail, according to some of Lust's sources. Which actually brings me back to you," With this, Pride refocused his gaze on Envy. "Thanks to your mishap with the Baker family-"

"Will you _stop_ bringing that up!"

" _Thanks to your mishap with the Baker family,_ " Pride continued, ignoring Envy's outburst, "It seems reasonable to assume that our missing in action Ruth Baker may have slipped Brown some information, considering her husband was a close friend of his," This time, Greed couldn't resist taunting his younger brother.

"Honestly, I just knew there was going to be no end to your fuck ups," he sighed, shaking his head in mock disappointment, "I'm starting to think shovelling chimera shit is the only think you're good for,"

"Yeah, well at least I don't waste half my time kicking it with human scum!"

"Don't even mention them, you have no idea what you're talking about, _ugly_ ," Envy stilled at the grave insult, clenching his fists in fury.

"Why don't you come over here and say that to my face, you piece of shit,"

"Oh sure, you'd like that wouldn't you? Think you'd be able to even put a scratch on me? That's all it would take right, since a small stab to the side is apparently enough to kill someone now?"

" _Enough!_ " Lust suddenly exclaimed, speaking up for the first time, and effectively halting her siblings spat before Envy could come up with a retort, "Honestly, the pair of you are acting like children. Do you have no respect for our eldest brother?" She glanced quickly at said sibling, but fortunately for them Pride didn't appear all too bothered by the argument, appearing instead disinterested and somewhat scornful.

"I have little interest in your pathetic squabbles. I've given you all the information I can, and expect you all to keep an eye out for any talk of Brown's actions in the future. And at least perhaps _try_ to conduct yourself in a more agreeable manner," With this Pride turned and left the room.

" _At least try to conduct yourself in a more agreeable manner_ ," Envy mimicked in a perfect, albeit higher pitched, impression of Pride's voice once he was certain he was out of hearing range. Rolling her eyes, Lust smacked him lightly upside the head, more in an attempt to hide the twitching of her lips than to actually reprimand the youngest.

"It might do you some good to actually listen to him for once, you know,"

"Yeah, yeah,"

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

Three figures; one female, two male, sat in a darkly lit room, hunched over what seemed to be a crudely drawn map of Amestris, staring intently at it as though it held all the secrets to the universe. Perhaps it did, to them. The room they were residing in was covered wall to wall in diagrams and sketches, all bearing alchemic formulas and transmutation circles, and contained no windows. The man at the head of the table spoke up first. He had a skittish appearance; pale, messy hair, wild eyes, and the general look of someone who hadn't slept for several days.

"So, what now? They're going to suspect Ruth has come to us, Isaac. No, more than that; they'll _know_. There's not a thing they don't keep tabs on in this godforsaken country,"

"I'm aware of that, Samuel," responded the dark-skinned man sitting next to him in a much calmer, if not frustrated, tone of voice. He rubbed his eyes and let out a world-weary sigh before turning to the only woman in the room, "I'm afraid you're going to have to stay hidden with us for the time being, Ruth, at least until we can find another hideout, just to stay on the safe side," The woman gave a determined nod.

"Whatever it takes,"

* * *

A/N:

Another quick chapter just to get the plot moving. This one is quite different to the first chapter; I'm trying to start making this feel more like a cohesive story, so bear with me!

All favourites, follows and reviews are appreciated; feel free to tell me what you thought, and whether this felt like it made sense or not (this whole storytelling thing is very new to me). I'm just excited to write this story and put it out there, so, once again, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The Central military headquarters was suffocating, thought Lust. A stuffy building filled with human men who were far too full of themselves to ever truly be relied upon to successfully complete a task, and the distinct atmosphere of power related aggression that was only found when there was this much testosterone in the air. The sheer confidence that these men held in the power of their meaningless titles never ceased to amaze her; how could something so weak truly believe it had enough influence to affect the world?

She had just seen off her latest source with a rather strained kiss (he had reeked of cheap tobacco and ale) and was now resigned to waiting around the main entrance to give Envy his next orders; a task that should have been easy to accomplish, if only he would at least try to be on time for once. Sighing, she leaned back on the bench and tapped her foot impatiently under her dress. She knew he was only young, but really, how hard was it to be punctual?

"Lust! Hey!" a man with light brown hair and blue eyes jogged up to her, yelling her name. It took Lust only a second to realise that this must be the latest human disguise her youngest sibling was occupying. "Sorry I'm late, there was a bunch of stuff I had to take care of," he said sheepishly, plonking himself down next to her on the bench with little grace.

"Really," Lust responded with a flat look, "you weren't just sneaking off to buy sweets again or anything?" Envy adopted an insulted expression.

"What?! No way! You really have that little faith in me, Lust?"

"Absolutely, and I'd appreciate it if you refrained from yelling my name at the top of your lungs; we're in a public place, remember?"

"Why? Afraid your new boy toy will hear me?" Envy snorted, looking more amused than apologetic, and decidedly ignoring the glare Lust sent his way.

"If my _source_ had heard you, it would spell trouble for both of us, you know that," she reprimanded, "and besides, I'm sure Father wouldn't be happy to hear that you were being so careless with our identities," It was an empty threat; they both knew Lust wasn't about to go telling tales on Envy to their leader, but he still shifted uncomfortably, looking suitably told.

"Fine, fine," Envy pouted a little, before perking up again as he remembered the reason for their meeting, "so what's the news?"

"Well, I've been mentioning the Bakers here and there to some contacts, and it turns out that Ruth was allegedly spotted downtown not too long ago, so there's a pretty good chance she's still hiding it out in Central,"

"So you want me to go looking,"

"That, and try to ask around for more information while you're at it. It wouldn't hurt to have more sources, and I doubt Greed would be willing to use any of his pet huma-" Lust didn't have time to finish her sentence before Envy butted in.

"Wait… are you giving me an actual job?" Lust rolled her eyes.

"All of your jobs are 'actual jobs', Envy," but a slow smile was already spreading across his face.

"You're giving me an actual job," Envy jumped to his feet with a new-found vigour, "I won't let you down, Lust! Just watch me show those humans who's boss!" and with that, he spun around and strode off into the crowd before Lust had the opportunity to get another word in.

She watched him go with exasperation. _I didn't even get to tell him where exactly she was seen_ , she thought to herself before shrugging. That was his problem, not hers; all she cared about right now was getting home for some much-needed alone time, away from men and clueless siblings.

* * *

Envy sighed with relief as he walked away from Lust; both eager to start his new job and thankful that she hadn't pressed the issue of him being late too much. How she was so good at guessing what he'd been up to was a mystery to him, but it seemed like she'd bought his bluff for now. Luckily, he'd finished his cake before she'd spotted him.

Seriously though, he thought, that girl at the sweet shop had been weird as all hell. What sane human was that cheerful? He'd never even consider going back there if that cake hadn't been so damn good.

* * *

 **20 minutes ago**

Envy was sneaking off to buy sweets again. More specifically, cake. A new bakery had opened up in town and despite Envy's scorn for humans, even he could admit that the ones who ran this place were doing a pretty decent job. Just a whiff of the scent the place emanated was enough to tempt in even those in a hurry to be somewhere, even homunculi.

It was a small, quaint looking place that immediately stuck out as one of those new small family owned shops that had started opening up all over Central. The sign on the front read _Wager's baked goods and confectionaries_ , and upon opening the front door to the sound of a tinkling bell, Envy heard one of the presumed Wagers call out a cheerful _"welcome sir!"_.

The speaker in question was a fair-haired young girl who looked to be in her late teens, perhaps early twenties (Envy always struggled with guessing human's ages), who appeared to instantly recognise Envy's current form, eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Back for more plum cake, sir?" she inquired with a little more enthusiasm than Envy was used to.

"Oh…um, sure," Envy managed, trying desperately to remember how the man who's body he was imitating had acted in the brief moments they had shared before he had killed him. Petrified, certainly, but it didn't take a genius to tell that that likely wasn't the best emotion for this scenario.

"It sure has been a while since you stopped by, sir," the girl continued with a toothy smile as she picked a plum cake from behind the counter, "Don't think I ever caught your name,"

"…I guess you didn't," he responded, unsure of why this girl was suddenly looking like she expected something from him. A slightly awkward pause ensued before the girl broke it with a small laugh.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me, sir; I know how secretive you military types can be," she said in a joking sort of stage whisper, leaning towards him. At this proximity, Envy just had time to notice how bright a blue her eyes were, before she suddenly pulled back and announced, "my name's Katherine, but everyone calls me Kitty,"

 _Oh_. She had been asking for his name, Envy belatedly realised, wanting to kick himself for his ignorance. He still had a long way to go in getting the hang of everyday human interaction, it seemed. Feeling it was too late to give her a name now, he merely nodded politely, wishing she would stop smiling at him so much, and took the wrapped-up cake she handed him.

"That'll be 50 Cenz, please!" Envy blinked in confusion, looking at the listed price tag.

"I thought it was 70?"

"Thought I'd give you a special discount, for being in the military and all," the girl, Kitty, said, sounding unusually bashful all of a sudden, and…was she blushing?

"Oh, uh, thanks I guess," Envy, unused to acts of kindness, responded with hesitation. How on earth was he supposed to respond to this new oddity of human behaviour? Kitty, perhaps mistaking his uncertainty for shyness, merely giggled and waved as he turned to leave the shop.

"Come again soon!" Envy lifted his hand in a wave only as an afterthought as he left the bakery, his mind already focused on getting to his actual destination. Lust was always especially pissy after meeting her new 'boyfriend', and he'd rather not be on the receiving end of that today, thank you very much.

* * *

A/N:

Just a short chapter this time! I know not much seemed to happen, but I just wanted to get something out before I go on holiday, and get Kitty introduced. That's all of the new main characters introduced for now; I don't want there to be too many new names for you guys to have to remember.

 _About plum cake_ : I was researching popular cakes in the 18th century (I'm trying to stay somewhat accurate) and this seemed a good choice. Apparently, plums in recipes of this time mean currants- so I guess it's technically currant cake, but that's not too important, just an interesting find.

On the topic of trying to stay accurate, I took some liberties with Amestris' currency. Apparently Cenz are supposed to be (somewhat) equal to Japanese yen, and here I've sort of increased their value to count for inflation…to a degree. Helps with setting a more historical tone I guess?

Anyway! Feel free to review and tell me what you thought or just follow/favourite if you enjoyed. Next chapter should be up in about a week. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

It was cold in the lair, today. The first leaves of autumn had started to fall, and with them, the temperature. At this point in the year Greed would normally be rarely seen anywhere other than in one of his cosy, if somewhat shady, taverns, but today was an exception. Today he had a bone to pick.

"Pride," he called to the seemingly empty room, "you might as well just come out and say it," There was a pause, and then every shadow in the space was suddenly alight with eyes that all managed to somehow portray cool threat and disdain with a single gaze.

"Say what, Greed? It seems as though you have far more to say to me," the disembodied voice reverberated around the chamber.

"Don't even try bullshitting me," spat Greed, "what exactly do you mean to prove by chasing these humans down? You never really thought they posed a threat before, yet now you're sending Envy of all people to hunt them?"

"I assume by 'humans' you're referring to Isaac Brown?" Pride calmly responded. Greed clenched his fists.

"You don't know what you're talking about,"

"Oh, I think I do, Greed. I think I know what I'm talking about far more than you do. Just admit that you still ca-" Greed interrupted before he had a chance to finish the accusation.

"That's what this is then; some other attempt to 'teach me a lesson'?" he gave a bitter laugh, "I think you already did a pretty good job of that before, Pride," Pride's eyes narrowed.

"Apparently not a good enough job," Greed sighed, pausing to compose himself before trying again in a more placating tone.

"Listen, all I'm saying is that sending Envy after them is only going to cause chaos; we both know it. D'you really need more sloppy murders to clean up, just to prove some sick point to me?"

"Whoever said I'm doing this to prove a point, Greed?" Pride said, "don't think yourself so important. It is merely logical to deal with meddling humans early on, before they start getting any big ideas; you know this,"

"This is still an affront on my property, dammit!"

"So you still consider them your property?" Pride's voice remained calm, but Greed stiffened; recognising the threat in his sibling's words.

"Whatever," he muttered as he turned to leave the room, smart enough to realise that the best course of action right now was to get the hell out of there, "this isn't over, Pride,"

"It never is with you, is it?"

* * *

Greed was still fuming as he made his way through the streets of Central, ignoring the shopkeepers yelling advertisements of their goods. His arrogant sibling was likely basking in the satisfaction of having won an argument, but Greed had meant what he said about not dropping the subject. No-one could take his property from him like that, not even Pride! He just hadn't felt like getting murdered today, that was all.

A cold breeze hit him and he shuddered in discomfort. Temperature didn't really affect homunculi health wise, but it could still be a pain in the arse, and Greed had always hated the colder seasons in Central. All around him, men and women huddled into their coats and shawls, preparing for the harsh season ahead, and likely wondering about the prices of firewood this year.

Greed sighed. He really needed to get out of this place.

He paused at a timetable for stagecoach arrivals, pinned up against a dilapidated building, and idly scanned through the listed destinations, all of which seemed to be heading north, of all places, aside from…Dublith? That was that little town down south, right? Well…maybe he could use a holiday, just to set his head straight and get out of the city for a few days.

He hummed to himself in contemplation. Dublith, huh? Maybe that could work.

* * *

 **Not too far away**

Ruth looked down at her notes in dismay. Despite her best efforts, everything she researched was coming up blank; these fuckers had hidden themselves well. Asking around town had proved fruitless, not to mention risky; she was sure someone had recognised her, and, if they had, who knew how much time she had left?

Placing her quill down, she rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. She couldn't let herself pause to grieve, she knew that: get revenge then focus on recovering; that had been her goal ever since That Day. But that was easier said than done. Sometimes it all just seemed like too much; no leads, no progress, and nothing that would ever bring back her family. It hurt too much to even think their names.

She lifted her head out of her hands as she noticed the parchment below her dampening- she hadn't even realised she was crying. Ruth quickly reached to wipe away the tears but before she had the chance she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Chin up, Ruth," came Isaac's voice, "I think I may have some much-needed good news,"

"…good news?" Ruth blinked, still too emotional to fully comprehend her co-conspirator's words, "what do you mean?"

"I mean a lead," Isaac smiled gently, "we still have a chance," Ruth was sitting up straight now, and wiped her face with a handkerchief she had gratefully received from Isaac.

"Tell me everything," she insisted, voice shaking.

"Emmet Cooke," Isaac replied, "an alchemist obsessed with the practices of the far East. I found some of his research in the Central library disguised as a book of poems, of all things," He laughed, "How something so valuable ended up in the library I have no idea…a testimony to his ability to hide his notes, I suppose,"

"What does the far East have to do with any of this?"

"Cooke seems to have taken specific interest in the tale of the Sage of the East-"

"The fairy tale about the man who brought alchemy to Amestris?" Ruth furrowed her brows in confusion, "I thought that was just a myth,"

"Well, that's where this gets interesting," Isaac leaned forward eagerly, "Cooke found that in Xing there's a similar tale about a Sage of the West, and both can be traced back to the ruins of Xerxes, and both were rumoured to have strikingly similar…abilities," This caught Ruth's attention.

"Abilities? You mean like-" Isaac shrugged.

"I can't tell you anything for certain, but let's just say I have a feeling that there may be something worth pursuing here," Before Ruth could respond Samuel burst into the room, breathing heavily.

"Guys, listen, I'm sure this conversation is very important and all, but Ruth? I'm afraid you're gonna have to be out of here pretty fucking soon,"

"What?" Ruth exclaimed indignantly, "Why on Earth-?"

"Someone's been asking questions about you, and I don't like it. I _told_ you that sneaking around was going to get us in trouble- you being here right now is just too much of a liability," Isaac rounded on his partner.

"Sam, you can't just do this- she's Thomas' wife for god's sake!"

" _Was_ Thomas' wife," Ruth drew in a sharp breath and Samuel turned to face her, "I'm sorry, but it's true, and any debt of mine to Thomas does not extend to putting my life on the line," The room fell silent as what Samuel was saying began to sink in.

"I get it," Ruth said softly, "you two have done more than enough for me, and I don't have the right to burden you anymore,"

"Ruth-" Isaac began, but she quickly interrupted him,

"I can't let anyone else die because I didn't take action, Isaac,"

"Well, no offence, but the sooner you're gone, the better," Samuel remarked, "good luck with your quest and all, but you better not still be here when I come back, you understand?" and with that, he turned and left the room. Ruth was quiet when she next spoke up.

"I suppose this is goodbye then. Thank you for-" but before she could finish, Isaac had gently placed a wad of money in her hands, "What are you doing? Isaac, I can't take-"

"Last I heard, Cooke was down south, in a town called Dublith," Isaac casually remarked, not fully looking at her, "Only a few days walk from here, really," still refusing to look at her, he headed towards the same exit Samuel had just left from, "See you later, Ruth," and then she was alone.

Ruth looked down at the money in her hands and let a small smile cross her face.

"Dublith, huh?"

* * *

A/N:

So, off to Dublith! This chapter took a little longer to get out than I would have liked- I had quite the busy week, but it's here now.

A less Envy-centric chapter this time, just to mix things up. I'm going to be taking the plot a little slower from now on, and just focusing on the characters in the next chapter or two, so if there's any particular scenarios you'd like to see with the homunculi, just let me know.

Feel free to leave feedback and tell me what you thought if you enjoyed this chapter- or even if you didn't- and thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

So maybe Envy had been a little too hasty when he marched off into downtown Central with all the airs of someone who knew what they were doing. Mostly because he had no idea what he was doing, but there was no way he would have ever admitted that to Lust. All he had to do was ask questions, right?

He looked around and sighed. The buildings in this area were crammed much closer together than in the city centre, and tended to be more residential; narrow, tall, and well lived in to say the least. Dirty washing hung from almost all the balconies high above, although looking up at them was ill-advised, unless you fancied an unpleasant encounter with the content of someone's chamber pot.

Really, thought Envy as he reluctantly continued walking, it wasn't as though that would make much of a difference; the whole street smelled like piss anyway. Humans were filthy creatures. If only someone could figure out how to flush away their crap from inside the house, for a change. That might be the only useful thing they ever did.

Was Baker really staying here? He supposed it was an easy place to stay hidden, what with so many people to blend in amongst, but still…it sure was a step down from that house she'd been living in with her husband. Normally human women like that were fussy about having only the best of everything, but then even they still had shit in a chamber pot at some point. Humans were humans no matter what.

But he was getting off track. He hadn't seen anyone resembling the brown-haired woman he remembered, and those he'd questioned so far hadn't recognised her name; it was beginning to seem like this place was a dead end, but then he spotted someone familiar on the other side of the street. A blonde-haired girl in a simple dress, exiting what looked to be a fabric shop. Envy quickly recognised her as the girl from the other day who'd been working at the bakery.

She'd introduced herself to him, hadn't she? Kitty, or something like that. Normally he wouldn't have bothered approaching her, but it was better than nothing, and she might be willing to talk to a familiar face. Or at least hear him out.

Dodging between carriages, Envy crossed the road, quickly changing his form to the one he'd been using that day when he was sure no one was looking, and walked up to the girl. He had hoped to address her first, so he could get the conversation over with as quickly as possible, but she spotted him before he had a chance to even open his mouth.

"Oh sir, fancy seeing you here!" The girl called, scurrying over to him, "No cake shops round these parts, I'm afraid," She laughed, "Mrs Smith down the road sells vegetables, and that's around as sweet as things get around here," She paused for a moment, "…here don't exactly seem like your kind of place, sir, if you don't mind me saying," Envy grimaced slightly.

"It's sort of a long story…," he muttered, "but long and short, I'm looking for a certain someone and you seem like the type of person to know what the local gossip is,"

"Now what made you think such a thing?" Kitty exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest in shock.

"Oh! I didn't mean, well, I didn't…is that offensive?" Envy babbled, desperate not to lose his only hope at a lead, "I'dve thought it was a good thing to be up to date with-" he broke off at the sound of the girl's laughter.

"I was only kidding sir," she smiled sheepishly, adding on, rather unnecessarily in Envy's opinion, "you're cute when you're confused,"

"Uh, thanks?" Envy responded, inwardly pretty miffed. Just who was this human to call him _cute_ of all things? Was it a compliment or an insult? He honestly couldn't tell with this girl.

"But hey, give me the low down; who're you looking for?" Envy fixed her with a flat look.

"Oh, so _now_ you're all for the gossip,"

"What can I say?" Kitty shrugged, "I've gotta entertain myself somehow,"

"Right. I'm trying to find a woman named Ruth Baker," Envy replied resignedly, "don't suppose you know her?" Kitty stiffened as he spoke, narrowing her eyes as she looked behind him in thought.

"How about an exchange?" she addressed him in far lower tones than before, looking around in an almost comically suspicious manner. Envy blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in demeanour.

"Wait. You mean, you mean- you actually know something?"

"I might do,"

"Okay," Envy sighed, "okay, fine. What is it you want? Money?" Kitty raised an eyebrow at him cheekily.

"How about your name?"

"My name?" He furrowed his brow in confusion, "that- _that's_ what you want? What use could that possibly be to you?" The girl shrugged.

"I'm just curious. It's not too much to ask, is it? Unless of course you don't want my information, that is,"

"No! That's not-" Envy coughed in embarrassment, "I mean, sure, fine. My name. Right. Name,"

"Yeah,"

"Um," improvisation was clearly something he needed to work on, "well…"

"Will?"

"What?"

"You just said Will, right?"

"Oh! Yes, sure- Will," Envy pounced on the misunderstanding with relief, "Will. Like William. That is my name. That sure is what my birth mother named me,"

"Right,"

"When I was born,"

"I got it," Kitty was clearly trying to hold back laughter at this point, "you know, it almost sounded like you forgot your own name for a moment then," Envy winced.

"Well, that's not what happened," he tried to assert, "because that would have been weird, right?"

"Uh-huh," she fixed him with an oddly affectionate look, "it's nice to properly meet you, Will,"

"Yeah, yeah. But what was it you knew that you _were_ going to tell me?"

"Oh! That," she shrugged, "I honestly have no idea who that lady is, but there was a guy behind you who tensed right up and ran away when you said her name,"

" _What_?" Envy exclaimed in disbelief. He would strangle this girl if they weren't in public right now- _god_ he'd forgotten how frustrating humans could be, "You have _got_ to be kidding me! Why didn't you say something-" he broke off to look behind him and sighed, "which way did he go?"

"You're right. Sorry 'bout that," Kitty had the grace to look at least a little ashamed, but the amusement was still clear in her eyes, "I think he went left down that street over there," she said pointing behind Envy, "he was sort of tall and pale, if that helps?"

"A- a little," he turned back around to face the human, "well, I've got a man to chase down, but," he jabbed a finger forcefully at Kitty, "don't you even _think_ this conversation is over," and with that he vanished down the alleyway she'd pointed out in a hurried fashion that, unbeknownst to Envy, slightly lessoned the imposing impression he'd hoped to make.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Kitty called cheerfully from behind him.

* * *

 **A few hours later**

The man had been nowhere to be found, unsurprisingly. Envy hadn't even really known what to look for, and the man had had a pretty large head start. He'd told Pride about what he'd learnt, but apparently 'tall and pale' wasn't enough information to go on for his highness.

Envy fumed to himself as he paced the floor of his room. What did Pride expect him to come up with when he'd been given next to no leads? He seemed even more uppity today than normal, not that Envy would ever tell him that. He valued his life too much for that.

And what was up with Greed? He'd stormed past him, muttering to himself, on his way into the lair without so much as a glare or taunt. He could have sworn his sibling hadn't even seen him… could it have anything to do with Pride's foul mood? Envy wasn't quite as dense as some of his fellow homunculi seemed to think, and he'd definitely picked up on a pretty large atmosphere of tension amongst the others over the past few weeks. They weren't seriously considering these to be humans a threat?

Either way, he was staying out of it. Disagreements were fun to watch, but that didn't mean he wanted to get dragged into one.

* * *

A/N:

Apologies for the long delay! I've just started back at college, and didn't really have the time to write this, but I churned this out the moment I had the chance… and could motivate myself. Future chapters should be a little more frequent now that I'm back in routine.

Not much plot progression here, so there's not much to say today, other than thanks for reading! Be sure to let me know what you thought!


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